FrenchFit 

Article in 6/9/2011 Independent, (Livermore/Pleasanton), cyclist goes down in urban park, Sycamore Grove Park, passer-bys dial 911 and call gets routed through Vallejo CHP control center, emergency services doesn't know where the park is, CHP spends 45 minutes trying to figure out how to get help to cyclist including calling Livermore police and FD for assistance. Passer-by firefighter gives CPR in the meantime. Sad story, biker dies regardless.

I guess the moral of the story is don't assume 911 is going to be much help unless someone can call out an exact street location/intersection. Articles says better to dial local number for the area or park police or FD - services that know the area you're in.

Outsourced - centralized 911, another really great idea. Why not move it to India and give them Google Maps to work with...

bigbenaugust 

One does indeed wonder if the average Indian in Mumbai with a copy of Google Maps could have found the location quicker.

"Sycamore Grove Park, Livermore, CA" took me no time at all.

knotty

Par for the course with stupidity and incompetence running amok. Idiots.

webtwo

We have seen again and again, that people who rely on cell phones and GPS are pushing their luck. Did the person in the park forget how they got there? They couldn't describe their location over their phone? Use your brain!

BHOFM

Your cell phone, and home phone are keyed to your home address, not the location
of the call.

If you are in a different town, or calling area, the 911 on your cell is useless.
You are better off finding someone local to make the call.
A lot of people have fake locations on the cell to confuse the sales calls.

CaptainCool

This might have been true five or eight years ago, but it shouldn't matter now with E911 required on cell phones. I would be interested to know what went wrong with that.

bigbossman 

The last time I called 911 from my cell phone in Danville, I was routed to Mill Valley emergency services. They had no idea where I was at.

IdleUp

That is truly sad. A friend of mine gave me this numbers which has all the emergency numbers of pretty much every city in the bay area. I have this numbers with me all the time when I ride or off bike.

Alameda 510-337-2100
Alameda County 510-881-8181
Antioch 925-757-1313
Bakersfield 661-861-2521
Belmont, Brisbane 650-368-1421
Benicia 707-745-2424
Berkeley 510-981-5911
Brentwood 925-757-1313
Burlingame 650-692-0313
Calaveras County 209-754-4330
Cal Berkeley 510-642-3333
Campbell 408-299-3144
Chico 530-897-3400
Clovis 559-348-1515
Colma 650-755-1500
Contra Costa East 925-933-1313
Contra Costa West 510-223-4422
Cupertino 408-299-3144
Daly City 650-992-2313
Davis 530-756-3400
Danville 925-838-6691
Dublin 925-447-4257
East Palo Alto 650-368-1421
Emeryville 510-596-3750
Fairfield 707-428-7373
Foster City 650-368-1421
Fremont 510-793-3434
Fresno 559-294-2009
Gilroy 408-846-0354
Half Moon Bay 650-368-1421
Hayward 510-732-2626
Hillsborough 650-574-1155
Hollister 831-636-4325
Lathrop 209-858-2331
Livermore 925-373-5400
Los Altos 650-948-1071
Los Gatos 408-354-8600
Marin County 415-472-0911
Menlo park 650-368-1421
Millbrae 650-368-1421
Milpitas 408-998-7212
Modesto 209-552-2474
Morgan hill 408-779-2101
Mountain View 650-968-4411
Napa 707-253-0911
Newark 510-793-3737
Oakland 510-444-1616
Orinda 925-284-5010
Pacifica 650-368-1421
Palo Alto 650-470-1258
Pinole 510-724-1111
Pittsburg 925-757-1303
Pleasanton 925-373-5400
Redding 530-225-4141
Redwood city 650-368-1421
Richmond 510-233-1214
Roseville 916-786-6444
Sacramento 916-228-3000
Salinas 831-758-7321
San Bruno 650-368-1421
San Carlos 650-368-1421
San Mateo 650-368-1421
Santa Clara 408-296-1515
San Francisco 415-553-8090
San Jose 408-277-8911
San Leandro 510-618-3490
San Mateo Co. 650-368-2155
Santa Cruz 831-335-9113
San Ramon 925-838-6691
Santa Rosa 707-576-1365
Saratoga 408-867-3896
SF Coast Guard 415-556-2103
So San Francisco 650-873-3333
Stanislaus 209-552-3911
Stockton 209-937-7911
Sunnyvale 408-730-7180
Tracy 209-831-4553
Union City 510-471-1441
Vacaville 707-449-5452
Vallejo 707-552-3285
Visalia 559-734-8116
Walnut Creek 925-933-1313
Watsonville 831-471-1170
Woodside 650-368-1421

Red Rider

I remember reading a few years ago that 911 calls from my phone were routed thru Santa Rosa. I have a client/friend who's a local cop; I have her on speed dial, just in case. She even offered to function as designated driver if I get into a bind.

Thanks for those phone numbers Idleup. I'll load them into my contacts -- sure can't hurt to have them.

My thoughts are with the cyclist's family...I hope they find peace.

UmneyDurak

I am just surprised the call went through. Last time I dialed 911 I got put on hold for at least 5 minutes on two separate occasions.

bsektzer

Apart from the idiosyncrasies of cell phone routing, be aware that as city, county, and state governments continue to cut public safety services in an attempt to deal with their budget woes, the response times of EMS and LE will deteriorate further.

BHOFM

Well, it was that way a couple weeks ago, I called about a toddler riding a trike next to a busy street
with no adult around, I was in a different town and the lady asked if I was at XXX north XX street, my
home address. It took several minutes and a police car came by and I flagged him down. I let the
police man talk to the lady to clear things up.

bigbossman 

Ok - just had occasion to test this yesterday in Danville.

Called 911, got CHP, explained the issue, got routed to Danville dispatch. Patrol car arrived about 20 minutes from beginning of call.

Perpetrator was long gone.

kenji666

City/county budgets are being cut back, so there are probably fewer responders to deploy.

Dchiefransom

The CHP call center is in Benicia, I believe. When I called them on my cell, I was asked what city I was in. The callers in the park could have told them they were in a park in Livermore, and the CHP would have transferred the call to Livermore.